Greenville, SC – In the 2026-27 Conference Carolinas Women's Basketball Preseason Poll, Francis Marion University was picked as the league's champion by the women's basketball coaches the conference office announced on Thursday.
Francis Marion finished as east division champions in 2025-26 and received 210 points to sit atop the 2026-27 preseason poll. The Patriots received 6-of-16 first place votes with 2025-26 tournament champion, Lees-McRae College receiving seven first place votes. The Bobcats received 206 total points following to land in the second spot ahead of last year's Conference Carolinas North Division Champion Belmont Abbey College. The Crusaders compiled 198 points and the final three first place votes. Barton College came in fourth with 179 points and 2025-26 tournament runner-up, Chowan University rounded out the top five with 152 points.
Young Harris College is picked sixth with 150 points, followed by UNC Pembroke with 147 points in seventh. King University came in eight with 135 points, followed by Emmanuel University in ninth with 104 points. The top 10 is concluded by Shorter University's 96 points.
Ferrum College (95), North Greenville University (73,) University of Mount Olive (68), Converse University (49), Southern Wesleyan University (43), and Erskine College (15) concluded the poll.
The preseason poll was voted on by the league's head coaches and they can't vote for their own school.
Southern Wesleyan went 6-22 last season and were 4-16 in Conference Carolinas play. The Warriors picked up key wins against Converse, Erskine and Ferrum last season. They will return their leading scorer in Makayla Raines who finished up last season with 436 points while shooting 41.1% from the field and 36.4% from beyond the arc. Emily Gamon will also return to the court for the Warriors after finishing last season with 45 assists and 33 steals. The Warriors will be joined by several new players including Conference Carolinas Players to Watch Erin Frazier and Erskine transfer Ahrianna Scott.
The Warriors will open up the 2026-27 season with exhibition games against Furman (Nov 6) and USC Upstate (Nov 7). They will then host their season and home opener on November 9 as they welcome the Flagler Saints to Historic Tysinger Gymnasium at 5pm. Southern Wesleyan will take part in the CC/SAC Conference Challenge on November 12-13 where they will take on both the Mars Hill Lions and the Emory & Henry Wasps. On November 21, the Warriors will host their first Conference Carolinas match of the season as the King Tornado come into town. Southern Wesleyan final exhibition game of the season will be on December 9 as they travel to Clinton, SC to take on Presbyterian College.
The 2027 Conference Carolinas Men's and Women's Basketball Championships will get underway on Sunday, February 28 and Monday, March 1. The fourth, fifth and sixth seeds in men's and women's basketball will host two games over the two days. The 12th-seeded team will battle the seventh-seeded team on February 28 at the sixth seed for the right to face the sixth seed on March 1. The 11th-seeded team will battle the eighth-seeded team on February 28 at the home of the fifth seed for the right to face the fifth seed on March 1, while the 10th-seeded team will take on the ninth-seeded team at the home of the fourth seed on February 28 for the chance to take on the fourth seed on March 1.
The 2027 Conference Carolinas Men's and Women's Basketball Championship quarterfinals are set for Friday, March 5 at Jerry Richardson Indoor Stadium. The semifinals will be contested on Saturday, March 6, while the men's and women's basketball finals are scheduled for Sunday, March 7.
